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McCallister
Hollow Farm is able to offer a variety of delivery & shipping
options to help meet your needs with regard to getting animals
from our farm to you. All adult or young mature poultry is
able to be shipped through the United States Postal Service via
Express Mail (1-2 day delivery). For more information on
poultry shipping, please
click here
to go to the poultry shipping page.
For other types of livestock such as goats or hogs, we can either
deliver to you or have your animals shipped to you. More
information on both services is available further down on this page. All livestock
delivery/shipping is within the continental United States only.
Delivery:
Delivery is
available for any type of animal that we have to sell. I can
either deliver directly to you or at a pre-determined meeting point
between us. My delivery fee is a very low-cost fee compared to
other shipping companies because I am offering it as a service to
benefit our customers, and not as a profit-making endeavor.
Since I am not in the livestock delivery business to make a living,
I do not offer delivery for any animals other than those that are
sold by us. I generally limit deliveries to 500 miles, though
I will go up to 1000 miles if needed and I have the time (if you're
located out west in any of the Rocky Mountain states,; west or
southwest states; Texas; or somewhere else out west, I might even
deliver further than 1000 miles at a reduced rate because I like
driving out there!). My delivery fee varies based on the price
of gas, so please contact me for the current rate and more info.
Shipping:
*New for summer 2009*
We are now able to offer shipping on most any of the livestock
through two different 3rd party shippers. MCHF is in no way
affiliated with either of these shippers, so buyer bears full
responsibility of all shipping costs charged by the shippers, as well as
any and all
other shipping-related costs (health certificates, etc...). We
have never required the services of either of these 3rd parties, so
we aren't that familiar with them. However, if you have any
questions, you may contact me, or if you have a specific question
relating to delivery to your area from us, it may be best to contact
the shipper directly since they will be better suited to answer such
questions.
Get-M-Home
Transport
www.get-m-home.com Please visit their website to view current
rates and fees. They can deliver nationwide and rates are flat
fees that are based on the crate size needed to transport the
animal. Probably the cheapest service if you are about 1000 miles or
more away and only need to have a single animal transported.
You may also contact me if you need more info on having an animal
from MCHF shipped to you with Get-M-Home.
Ron Keener
Transport
Website at
http://TravelWithRonK.com
Group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TravelWithRonK
Please visit his website and join his
Yahoo! Group "Travel With Ron K" to see shipping information and
learn how his shipping service works. Probably the cheapest
service if you are about 1000 miles or more away and need to have
multiple animals transported at the same time. You may also
contact me for assistance if you need more info on having an animal
shipped to you from MCHF with Mr. Keener.
Delivery and
Shipping F.A.Q.'s
Delivery vs.
Shipping...Which one is cheapest?
This will depend on several
factors, including distance and how many animals need to be transported.
Generally, if you are under 1000 miles or so away, it is going to be
cheaper to have me deliver the animals directly to you. If you are
over roughly 1000 miles away, then it's probably going to be cheaper to
enlist the transport services of one of the 2 companies listed above.
When possible, I do combine multiple deliveries to different customers
in one trip when I deliver and I do offer a discount on shipping in such
cases, so that also makes my delivery fee even more cost-effective.
Feel free to drop me an email and I will be happy to help you find the
most economical way to get an animal from us to you.
I can drive and pick up
the animal for "x"
amount of dollars...Why is your delivery fee "y"
amount of dollars more than that?
My answer to that is you are
absolutely more than welcome to pick up if you truly think you can save
money, no problem. Now, the more detailed answer...There are many more
costs involved with delivery (or picking up) than just gas---or diesel. First
off, take the wear and tear on my vehicle: tires, belt, engine &
ignition components, oil changes, filters (air, oil, fuel), transmission wear, etc...With each added mile, all of
these things require maintenance and replacement much sooner than they
would require without the added long trips. In addition, the cost of
food must be factored in; true, I have to eat at home also, but on the
road, food costs more than it does at home, especially when every meal &
snack of the day has to be purchased on the go (as well as all of the
extra caffeine!). Factor all of these costs in with the steep
depreciation I am taking from adding all the extra miles to my truck,
highway tolls, motel/hotel costs (sometimes), and I am lucky to break
even; all of these extra costs add up to be more than the cost of gas.
If you don't believe me on this, try taking a few 300-500 mile
trips (one-way) and see how quick these extra expenses add up...it gets real expensive real quick. These are all
expenses that are going to be incurred whether I deliver or if you pick
up, because you're going to have to pay the same expenses for all those
things I mentioned above on your own vehicle. So, my delivery fee
is enough to try and cover the expenses, and you're basically getting my
time spent making the delivery for free since I often lose an entire
day--sometimes two--to make a single delivery. Anyone who has a
problem with my delivery fee is absolutely more than welcome to come
pick up. As I said above, I'm not in the "animal delivery
business" to make a profit, so it won't hurt me at all if you don't wish
to utilize my service. I just offer it because some people either
can't make the drive to us or hate driving and I would like to help them
out...What I consider as my "reward" for making deliveries is getting to
see the country, albeit briefly, on my delivery trips. However, I
can't afford to wear my truck out just to deliver animals without
charging for the added wear and tear.
Can't you just deliver
for the exact cost of gas?
No. See my answer above
for why.
I need to have the
delivery on a certain day (fill in the blank) at a certain time.
Can you do this?
No. Most of my
deliveries take place on a Sunday, occasionally on a Saturday. All
I can do is give you the day that I have available for delivery and if
that isn't convenient, then you'll need to make pickup or shipping
arrangements. In addition to the farm work, I also work a 'regular' job
and I can't take days off work to make a livestock delivery.
If I buy more than one
animal, do you offer a discount on delivery or shipping?
No. Shipping charges
are set by the 3rd parties, so we can't cover their fees just because
there is more than 1 animal being transported (though you may be
eligible for a much cheaper rate on each additional animal, depending on
which carrier you use). The 3rd party carrier may offer a discount
for multiple animals picked up from us at the same time and delivered to
the same address, but you would need to contact them directly for that
info. My
delivery fee is a flat rate per delivery stop, so adding more animals
doesn't make the trip any cheaper to make. However, do consider
that buying more than 1 animal makes the per-animal shipping or delivery
cost substantially less.
I can meet you
somewhere to make your trip shorter...Can you do that for a discount?
Yes, I can meet you at some
point in between us if you wish. However, there is no discount.
The delivery fee will still be based on mileage; only instead of it
being based on the mileage from our farm to you, it will be based on the
mileage from our farm to the meeting point.
Can I just meet you on
one of your other delivery trips?
Absolutely. I am happy
to split the delivery cost among customers and I do so whenever
possible. However, I will not just bring along an animal for one
customer free of charge, while another customer is paying for delivery.
I will split the cost evenly or proportionally for each customer. To
bring along an animal for one customer free of charge while charging
another customer for that same delivery trip would be grossly unfair to
the party that is paying since they would be the one paying for my
delivery fee. I will always attempt to combine deliveries and
split the fees whenever possible.
I'm buying a pig and my
neighbor (or buddy) would also like to buy one. Is delivery
cheaper if we both get them delivered at the same time?
Yes! (See my answer
above) Just about anytime
that I am able to make more than one delivery during the same trip, I
can offer a discount (the deliveries don't necessarily have to be in the
same town, just somewhere along my delivery route). There are a
few exceptions, but for the most part, I do split the delivery fees
among the customers to save everyone a little money.
Do you have any
deliveries near me so that you can either delivery to me free of charge
or so that I can meet you nearby?
See my answers above.
Why don't you offer
shipping by airlines?
There are just too many
reasons. It's not even an option, so there's no need to ask.
For shipping, we can only offer the ground transport services provided
by the entities listed above, or I can deliver.
Instead of shipping
poultry (chickens, ducks, turkeys, guineas) to me through the post
office, can you just deliver?
I can, but it's not very
cost-effective. Unless you're wanting to have several birds
shipped to you at once, or you're wanting more than 1 adult turkey
shipped, the post office is virtually always going to be the cheapest
option when dealing with the smaller birds. Turkeys are very
expensive to ship through the post office (roughly $100 per bird), so if
you're wanting more than 1, it might be cheaper to pay me to deliver.
You'd just have to contact me by email to find out.
Do you deliver to
poultry shows?
I can if requested.
Because I hardly ever have the chance to go to a poultry show due to a
lack of time, it will be a special trip. However, if there is
sufficient demand for delivery to a particular show, I will think about
arranging a delivery trip. There will be a charge for the delivery
since I wouldn't be going to show my own birds, however, we might be
able to work out a discounted delivery rate since I enjoy attending the
shows.
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